DID CITY'S $480,000 SURVEILLANCE CATCH HIT-AND-RUN?

 Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Revelers in some of Brownsville's downtown clubs were startled when pedestrians walked in to say that a cyclist had been fatally struck by a car in the heart of the city near the U.S. Post Office (City Hall) just before 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.

One of the men who walked to the corner of 10th and Elizabeth streets reported to El Rrun-Rrun that he had seen a body covered with sheets and the mangled remains of a bicycle. He said police on the scene said they were looking for a car that fled the scene.

"The guy got hit on Elizabeth and dragged to the post office," one caller reported. "The car took off."

Attempts to get information early this morning from the BPD went unanswered and we will try to get more information today.  

If the cyclist was struck anywhere the Elizabeth-10th Street intersection, the event should have been captured by the city's downtown surveillance system. The $480,000 surveillance system was approved by the City of Brownsville Commission on August 2018 and 40 cameras were installed in November of that year.

Brownsville public officials said the move is necessary to improve safety in downtown Brownsville.

Then-District 4 Commissioner Ben Neece – who spearheaded their installation – said the cameras were  installed throughout six blocks in the downtown area which includes the Elizabeth-10th street intersection where the cyclist was reportedly struck.